"There are many misconceptions about antidepressants and sleep," says Joseph Holshoe, MSN, PMHNP-BC, a Commander in the US Public Health Service and a Behavioral Health Consultant at the Naval health Center New England. "Many 'sedating' antidepressants disrupt and impair sleep and the sedating effects we desire may come from broken and ineffective sleep architecture. More and more research points to the essential and vital nature of adequate sleep - and many of the medications we prescribe effect sleep adversely."

Holshoe will be presenting on the topic this June at the APNA 12th Annual Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute in Reston, Virginia. His session, entitled Sleep and Antidepressants: Lessons from Research Literature and Clinical Practice,will be packed with useful information on treatments for persons with sleep disturbances and depression. "The goal of this lecture is to explore the research on antidepressants and sleep, differentiate between sedation and restful sleep, address common perceptions and misperceptions of the effects of antidepressants and sleep, and review strategies for enhancing sleep with selective use of antidepressants," he explains. Ultimately, he hopes that attendees will walk away with an understanding of how "we can better manage sleep and antidepressant therapy."

It promises to be a valuable and enjoyable session - as a presenter at the APNA 27th Annual Conference this past October, he earned rave reviews. Comments about his session were liberally peppered with adjectives such as "dynamic", "knowledgeable", "engaging", and "enthusiastic". As one attendee remarked, "This speaker was amazing. He had an excellent command of his field, connected well with participants and had tremendous presentation skills."

As for what he does when he is not presenting at APNA conferences, he works in Newport, Rhode Island: "I currently serve as psychiatric and behavioral health consultant to the Primary Care Clinic in a developing Medical Homeport Program," he says. "I provide behavioral health and psychiatric consultation services to primary care providers, including diagnostics and treatment modalities; as well as direct patient care services, brief psychiatric interventions and therapies, behavioral health guidance and training, and medication management to active-duty service members, dependents, and retirees." And on top of all of that, he also provides "in-services and training to tenant commands on sleep, stress reduction, and issues in behavioral health."

Interested in learning more about sleep and antidepressants by attending Holshoe's presentation at CPI? Register for CPI here.

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